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2005 Ford Five Hundred Owner Comments (Page 3 of 4)

Five Hundred 6-cyl

79,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving from sj to la, calif. 200 miles into my journey with wife and 3 kids, pulled off highway for gas. Slowed down and noticed the wrench and check engine lights on and car would only go 10 to 15 miles per hour and revved at more than 3000 rpms. The car clunked hard when put into drive or reverse. Turned off the engine, several times and restarted. Sometimes fixed problem, other times did not. I had car towed to hanford, California, and then again to los angeles-another 198 miles to Ford dealership. I had to rent a car and drive the rest of the way to la and drive back - 198 miles-to hanford-to return the rental car. I tested the car a few times in hanford and when it was at the Ford dealer. From a cold start, the car worked fine. Drove and shifted well with no problems. But once the car warmed up, it went back into limp-mode, clunked hard when you shifted into drive or reverse, and would go only 10-15 mph at 3000 or more rpms. The dealer test drove it and had the same result. The dealer got codes P0701, P0871, and P0961 and said that meant the transmission had internal problems. They said they called Ford engineers who told them the likely problem was when the transmission fluid warms up, it is not properly circulating due to leaks in what they called two variators inside the transmission. They quoted the cost to replace the variators as $3600 for parts and labor of $1200 for a total of $4800 and that is more than the cost to replace the transmission for which they quoted $4500. So they replaced the transmission. After starting, they found a broken transmission mount so they replaced that for another $250 (part only - no labor charge). I test drove the new transmission yesterday. The car no longer goes into limp mode and drives nicely except after it warms up it clunks hard into drive and reverse and wines in reverse gear. Not taking car till fixed properly.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

99,460 miles

I purchased this 2005 Ford Five hundred as a gift for my wife,11/26/11 within a week after owning it the AWD malfunction light came on. In looking over the internet I'm finding other Ford owners are experiencing the same problem and that Ford does not want to do anything about it or take responsibility for a defective product that potentially could be very costly over and above the high cost of the vehicle itself. It seems the consumer should have ''some'' recourse or help with this recurring problem and make Ford own up and repair the defect and problems many of us are dealing with... out of pocket!!!

Five Hundred 6-cyl

155,000 miles

Not long after purchasing my vehicle my husband and I were driving on the interstate with the cruise control on and the transmission stopped working. We were able to pull off safely onto the shoulder and shut the car off and once restarted was fine. We have since stopped using cruise control in fear of an accident. The problem is still there and seems to be getting worse. The dash will light check transmission, traction control and sometimes check engine. Once the car is turned off and back on it is fine for a while, the check engine light takes some time to go off. It is getting so we are afraid to drive it, sometimes it drives fine and others the transmission quits. The other day I went to pass a car and the lights came on as I had moved into the lane to pass on the interstate. Once I was in my lane again a few minutes later it does it again and this time a big mac truck is coming up on me. I have read of several problems of this with this same car and it has been said there is a problem with the throttle body and/or electrical system. This is very dangerous and Ford should be issuing a recall to fix the problem before someone is injured or killed.

Five Hundred

90,000 miles

Not sure the exact time but within the past year or so my 2005 Ford Five hundred ( purchased new) is going into failsafe mode limited throttle power, very sporadic at first but now happening quite often. If you pull over and shut the car off and restart it clears and drives normal. My daughter was driving it yesterday and it happened 7 times from mall to the house (about 20 miles). Once while she was in heavy traffic driving about 55 mph. Car jerked then started slowing down. This is a safety issue that needs to be looked at. Very dangerous. My mechanic is trouble shooting problem, looking like throttle body or gas pedal. I believe Ford came out with a new throttle body in 2010 to correct the problem (tsb 05-25-13)but will only replace it at their cost if still under warranty, otherwise the cost is on us the consumer. (about a thousand dollars).

Five Hundred 6-cyl

miles

The vehicle lunges while holding the brake when putting into reverse or drive and continues to do so while waiting to pull into traffic making it very dangerous! it also does this while trying to park making it dangerous to park near anything! I have seen several complaints regarding this very same problem stating it is a throttle body defect that costs at lowest $700 to repair. Front suspension is shot already with loud clunking noises, very rough ride! rear doors fill with water which will result in rust holes! all of these problems have been reported several times by other owners of this same year and make of vehicle. Ford should be responsible for the repairs needed to fix these problems.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

233,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have the wrench light up on the dash board and it said engine failsafe mode in the message centre? this started happening to me a few weeks ago from time to time. No warning, I just accelerate from a red light and I notice I have no power, I look down and sure enough - wrench is lit and engine failsafe mode. I pull over, turn the car off for a few minutes and then the problem is gone when I start again. I couldn't find any specific info on what is causing this around the 'net - and even the manual says, if it is persists, take it to the dealer. It happened a few more times, but this time it seemed the RPM's were revving without my foot on the accelerator. I had my foot on the brake so nothing happened, but did it a few times, so I brought it to the dealer last week. They ran some diagnostics and ultimately said they repaired a vacuum hose at my airbox. Ok, sure, whatever. Next two days, no problem. The third day, happened again. This time, I was going into an underground parking spot and it started revving and I ended up (very lightly) hitting the wall as it lurched forward. When I went to leave the spot - in reverse - happened again - almost hit the parked car behind, as it lurched. So took it to the dealer this morning - and the service advisor mentioned he suspects the throttlebody as he has had some other 500's in for the same thing. No idea why, but the computer didn't have a code for the throttlebody problem last time - but it did this time, so as I write this, they are putting the new one on and I'll be there in an hour to pick it up.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

70,258 miles

The vehicle in question was idling in park. Vehicle was shifted into reverse with the foot on the brake. Once foot was released from the brake the car lunged backward, the tachometer read about 3000 RPM, with no pressure on the gas pedal. Just as quickly pressure was applied to the brake and the car entered "engine failsafe mode" and shut down. Turning the vehicle off and restarting would clear the problem. This has happened 4 more times since the reported incident date, all with the same circumstances. The vehicle had the A/C on and was idling in approximately 90 degree Fahrenheit temperatures with +50% relative humidity.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

50,000 miles

2005 Ford Five hundred. Vehicle accelerates without the gas pedal being depressed. Vehicle enters into failsafe mode. Occurrences are intermittent. Diagnostic checks show something other than the real culprit which is a faulty throttle body. Has not been repaired yet. Dealer is asking for $800.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

120,000 miles

The car started to accelerate by itself. And nearly plowed into the car in front of me. Then on the hwy has lose of power nearly rear-ended @60mph check engine light now w/wrench. Diagnosed code P2106 and P2135 throttle body. Occurs more when A/C is on. Had air flow sensor replaced, but problem still exist.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I purchased a used 2005 Ford 500 ltd AWD in May 2008. I was told it was a lease turn in. The mileage was very low, under 30,000 miles. The factory warranty expired in July 2008. In October 2008, my dash began malfunctioning. The gauges would go completely dead. I could not tell how fast I was going, how much gas I had left or the temperature of the engine. Nothing on my dash would work. It varied from lasting seconds to appx a half an hour. I drove home one night (it took me appx 25 minutes) not knowing how fast I was going or how much gas I had left. Also, the reverse lights were on when my car was in both drive and park. I stopped at a red light (my car was in drive) and the reverse sensor alarm went off when a car pulled up behind me. We took it to the dealership we bought it from & were told it was a cluster in the dash that was a "known problem with this vehicle" but because it was not a "safety issue" Ford did not have to recall this. I feel that not being able to know what speed you are driving down the highway to be a huge safety issue. Also having your reverse lights on while the car is in park or drive seems a bit dangerous as well. We had it repaired and it cost us over $400. About 2 weeks ago, we had to have another "cluster" repaired that was making my transmission shake & the check engine light as well another warning light appear. It was a sensor that went bad and was making my car think it was out of gas. This cost us almost $350 to repair. Not sure what's going on with the sensors/clusters on these cars but it seems to be a safety issue to me.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

70,000 miles

Our car stalls while driving. It often happens on the highway, but also on residential streets and at all speeds. The car will lurch forward, the lights on the dashboard will all light up, and then the engine will shut down causing us to have to shift into neutral and try to pull over to safety. When we try to restart the car it will sputter and die again. Occasionally we will be able to get it to a parking lot, we have had to be towed home. We have replaced the fuel pump and spark plugs. The Ford dealership drove it and ran diagnostics on it for weeks at a time and found nothing to tell them anything. This has been happening every week or so for nearly a year, and no one can tell us what's wrong. There are times when it happens every day, and there are times when it doesn't happen for a month. Many people's description of a defective transmission body matches our description, but that part is, apparently, on backorder. The car is essentially un-drivable, because we cannot count on it to get to us work on time or safely.

Five Hundred

96,000 miles

We own a 2005 Ford 500 and my wife has taken it to 3 different Ford dealers to have an issue looked at. The vehicle has stalled on her over a dozen times while driving down the highway and it has gone into fail safe mode. The vehicle seems to lurch when in gear either drive or reverse. I've looked up the issue on line and it appears to be very common with this model of vehicle. Throttle body and reprogramming of the PCM. I believe this to be a very big safety issue and there needs to be a recall on these before someone gets severely hurt.

Five Hundred 6-cyl

69,679 miles

Ford 500 SE 2005. Put the car drive or reverse and the car lunges. Push down on accelerator and car lags. Throttle body defective. Happens every time I drive the car. Part needs to be replaced back ordered until December.

Five Hundred

55,400 miles

My 2005 Ford 500 began to surge when changing from park to reverse and also when changing from park to drive. At time it would change from 800 RPM to 1500 to 2500 RPM. Very scary in tight quarters and in a parking lot. Other times it thought it was a Toyota and just take off.fault codes did appear and the dealers first try did nothing to fix the problem. The last time was on the interstate. It terrified my wife. We dropped it off again at the dealer and was told that the repair part would take 14 days. Does Ford have that many problems ? I checked the internet and many Ford products are having throttle body problems. The replacement part was completely different from the original.

Five Hundred

25,400 miles

Electronic throttle control is bad. The car lunges forward and back. It also goes into engine fail safe mode. It also caused me a little accident, I went in reverse and the car lunged into the garage wall, broke the frame of garage and car has scratches and marks at the rear. Very scared to drive, wife wont drive. Part is on back-order, and its my only car. Have wife and two kids and I do not want them to drive in the car. This is a serious safety issue and I can not believe how lightly it is getting taken care of. Ford needs to force a recall fast.

Five Hundred

80,000 miles

2005 Ford 500. Car began bucking/surging/accelerating on own when starting to pull out into heavy traffic from shopping center to main road. Strong braking required to control car. Continued to happen, pulled back into shopping center lot. Would happen in drive or reverse with car taking off on own if no brake applied. Car stalled times two. Was able to get car to Ford dealership in very near vicinity. Continued to happen for service rep while at dealership. Dealership found electronic throttle body to be at fault. A known problem to exist, so stated. Tsb exists for this. Must replace throttle body with updated model. Unit on backorder. Car undrivable till part arrives. Greater than 1 month backorder on part! very dangerous situation occurred. Could have been serious accident.

Five Hundred

88,000 miles

For approximately the past year our 2005 Ford 500 has been lurching when shifting into reverse with the "wrench" symbol on the dash lighting up. I have had the codes run and nothing comes up. I have been doing internet research on this problem and it seems that many people have reported this issue in online forums with many having to have the throttle body replaced, computer reprogrammed and accelerator replaced. This issue has not shown up on for a recall but I do believe it should as my wife drives the vehicle and almost got into an accident with our three young children.

Five Hundred

175,000 miles

In parking spot. Just started car. Foot on brake. Shifted car to reverse gear. After a couple or more seconds, the car lurched, with my foot on the break, and nearly hit a pedestrian walking behind my car. Upon researching this symptom, I discovered other owners of the Five hundred, freestyle and Taurus reporting the same symptoms. The culprit appears to be a malfunctioning throttle body, which is or was in short supply for replacement. This particular incident is not the first time I experienced this event. This is just the first time a pedestrian was at risk. The pedestrian can be contacted for verification.

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